The Truth Hurts
by Fifteen Minutes Old
Summary: Erin Montgomery-Wilder formally known as Batgirl finds out she's adopted. Her world is shattered for the second time in her 13 year old life and she does not know how to deal with it. Pete/Addison & Batgirl. Futurefic. AU.


This yet again was random and wouldn't go away.

It's got fluffy parts but is mainly quite angsty and sad- I hope I gave it justice (I'm never sure if I'm good at angst.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

Erin Montgomery-Wilder looked at herself in her bathroom mirror, scrutinizing every feature on her face. She had always thought she looked like her mother- everyone always told her she did. Now she knew it wasn't true. It was only hours ago that Erin found out the truth and her life as she knew it crumbled around her. _Okay that's a bit dramatic, but things had changed. _She had found out that she was adopted, and now she knew the truth it all seemed so annoyingly obvious. Her mother was glamorous, tall and had amazing red hair; she had mousy brown hair and was relatively short in comparison. She had always wanted her mother's hair- assuming she had just inherited it from her father's side. Now Erin knew the fact was she probably did inherit her mother's hair, from her _real _mother. She sighed and ran her hands over her face. She stared into her own green eyes from the mirror and wondered how she hadn't noticed it before. She didn't look like either of them. She heard her parents get back from work and close the front door behind them. Erin left her ensuite and into her bedroom, she looked around and wondered what her life would have been like if she had lived with her real parents. Who would she be now?

Had her brother been adopted? That thought hurt too much to even consider. She picked up a picture from her bedside table; it was of the four of them from six years ago. She was seven, and Toby had been five. They looked so happy in the photo. She was sitting on her father's lap, who had one arm holding her and the other around her mother. Toby was sitting on her mother's lap smiling cheekily at the camera. She looked at the little boy in the photo. He looked so much like her dad, but had her mother's distinctive eyes. He couldn't have been adopted. He fit in. She looked like the odd one out in the photo. She remembered it being taken at her Uncle Sam and Aunt Naomi's barbeque. It was an annual event. By the time it was the following year it had only been the three of them in the photo. Toby had leukaemia and had lost his battle about ten months after the photo she was holding had been taken. It still hurt to think about it, not that she had really understood at the time it happened.

"Erin? Honey?" She heard her mother's voice, _Addison's voice_ call up the stairs for her, interrupting her increasingly depressing thoughts. "What do you want for dinner?" Instead of replying like she normally did Erin left her room and walked down the stairs into the living room. As her parents came into view she saw them laughing with each other, like they always did. She wondered if her_ real_ parents were still in love after all these years. Her mother looked up at her and the smile on her face faded. "Honey- what's wrong?" Her face was creased in confusion and worry, as was her father's- who looked at her just as the first of her tears fell down her face. Erin walked down the remaining steps and stood apart from her parents.

"When were you planning on telling me?" She asked as steadily as she could.

"Tell you what?"Her father asked, but Erin's stare was fixated on her mother's face who seemed to have realised what she meant.

"That I'm adopted." She said simply, despite the tears falling down her cheeks. Her mother's face fell completely, and her father looked shocked.

"How did you-"he started, only to be cut off.

"I went into Dell's domain when no one was looking." She looked back to her mother, who still hadn't said anything, and had tears falling from her eyes. Erin's tears were suddenly replaced by anger. "Addison wouldn't let me look at my medical records- so I wanted to know why. Guess I know now. She didn't want me to find out that my life is a lie." Erin certainly didn't miss the look of pain on the red-heads face when she hadn't called her mum.

"Don't talk to your mother that way."

"She is not my mother." She looked at Pete as she said this, trying to ignore the sob that had escaped Addison's lips. "Are we not going to talk about this?"

"We were trying to protect you. We love you." Addison whispered, unable to keep her emotions in check.

"By lying to me? How is that protecting me? I don't know my parents." Erin was crying again, "And you do know who they are- don't you?" She looked at Addison _her mummy_, who was still crying. She nodded. "I hate you." This seemed to snap something within both her parents. Her mother left the room sobbing louder than she had been before, and she could still hear them despite the fact she was now outside. Pete's reaction seemed to be anger.

"Go to your room."

"I don't have to do what you say anymore." He stepped closer to her.

"You may not think of us in a good way right now, but you upset her. Badly. Despite everything she has done for you. And yes, you will go to your room-because you are a minor living in my house and we are legally your parents. So you will do as I say." Erin had never seen him so angry before. Honestly, out of the two of them he had always been the calmer one. She ran back up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door.

* * *

Pete sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He had a very angry daughter and an extremely upset wife on his hands. This had been one of Addison's fears from day one. He turned around when he heard the back door close again; he looked at Addison standing in front of him. She was a mess, a beautiful mess. They had been together for twelve years, and married for ten of them. At first she had resisted him- the fact he had stood her up had not helped. He finally proved himself during the first week she had been able to have Erin-formally known as Batgirl- home. The adoption process had been hard, and had taken a little over a year. He was sure to this day that Charlotte King had helped Addison be allowed to adopt Erin, considering at the time she had been single and there were many couples interested, but she still refused it to this very day.

He watched her now all these years later as she fell apart. She had done everything to give Erin a good life. He walked over to her and hugged her tightly and she sobbed into his chest heavily. He rubbed her back.

"She hates me," she managed to hiccup in between sobs. "I can't lose her too." He squeezed his own eyes shut to try and stop his tears for the moment, knowing his wife needed him.

"No she doesn't and you won't." He held her for a while, trying to make the impossible better. "Come on, let's go get changed out of our work clothes." He led her upstairs.

* * *

Erin waited for a good few minutes after she heard the other bedroom door shut before she opened her own. She snuck past her parents room, pausing as she heard her mother's broken voice.

"I can't lose her Pete. I just can't."

"Honey-you aren't going to. She's just angry."

"That's easy to for you to say!" She sounded hysterical, "She didn't say that she hated you." She sobbed again. "She's never said it before. And now I can't even talk to her because she has locked herself in her room." Erin felt a pang of guilt for what she was about to do, but it went quickly. She snuck down the stairs and out of the house.

* * *

"I have to talk to her." Addison concluded. She got up off her bed and left the room. It had only been ten minutes since they had come upstairs, but she could not stand this. She walked to Erin's room- which had previously been locked, and knocked on the door. She was surprised when the door opened.

"Erin?" She walked into the room, seeing it was empty, and then into the ensuite which was also empty. Addison looked to the floor next to her bed and saw the broken photo frame. She picked it up, cutting herself on the glass in the process. She dropped the photo as she cried out because of the sharp pain but picked it up again. Her heart broke as she looked at the damaged, and now blood smeared photo of them from all those years ago. She ran to her and Pete's bedroom where he was waiting.

"She's gone!"

"What?"

"She's not here. She's gone." She cried heavily, sobbing for her little boy and for her daughter who had run away. She barely noticed Pete walk past her to go downstairs.

* * *

When Addison got down the stairs she saw that Sam and Naomi had already arrived, and Pete was on the phone. She was clutching her bleeding hand, which seemed to be the first thing Naomi noticed about her.

"Addie! What happened?"

"I cut it on the glass of the frame." She sniffed, Pete had hung up the phone and walked over to her. She handed Naomi the photo. She smiled sadly at Addison and handed the photo to Sam.

"Let's get this cleaned up."She said to her best friend gently, leading her to the kitchen. Pete came over to them with the First Aid kit and handed it to Naomi.

"I called the Police but they won't do anything because of how little time she's been missing."

"What?" Addison practically shouted, pulling her hand away from Naomi who pulled it back. "She's thirteen! It's dark outside and it's cold. It's not safe." Pete rubbed his hysterical wife's back.

"I know. Sam and I are going to go look for her, Cooper already is and Violet is on her way over."

"Okay." She replied almost inaudibly, not even wincing when Naomi removed a small piece of glass from her wound. Pete kissed her forehead gently. "I'll keep in touch. I love you."

"Love you too."She replied quietly. As the men left the two best friends alone Naomi finished wrapping Addison's head and looked up at her.

"She'll be fine Addie, she's just confused." She moved seats so she could sit right next to her.

"Should I have done anything differently Nae?" She sounded defeated.

"No Addie, you have done everything right. You loved her when her birth mother couldn't and she will understand that eventually. She won't hate you for loving her too much to let her go into foster care."She stroked her friend's head, which was now resting on her shoulder.

"I just wish things could be like they were years ago. I wish that Toby was alive and she was too young to ask why she didn't look like me."

"I know honey," she said gently. "I know."

* * *

Pete was losing his mind. He had to find her quickly; they had met Cooper and had been looking for her for over an hour now. Every fifteen minutes or so he got an increasingly anxious and upset call from his wife who was also losing her mind, and he wished he had checked Erin's room early than they had.

"Maybe one of us should drive." Cooper said quietly, and it hadn't been the first time he had commented on the speed of Pete's driving.

"Are you telling me that if Anna was out at this time of night you wouldn't be like this?" He replied angrily. At the mention of his 10 year old daughter's name Cooper decided to shut up.

"Just think about this logically Pete. Where would she go?" Sam offered.

"Well what do you think I have been doing Sam? Just randomly driving around? I am try-" Pete stopped mid-rant when he saw a sign for the cemetery and suddenly he knew where she was.

* * *

Erin sniffed back her tears as she looked at the polished stone in front of her. She shivered as she pulled her knees closer to her chest to keep herself warm. Her freshly dyed hair fell onto her face. She had gone to the closest shop and bought a box of dye, before going to her friend's house to do it. She hadn't asked questions, she'd just helped.

"Hey Toby." She said quietly. "I know it's been a while since I visited. I'm sorry." She shifted closer to the stone and ran her hand over the gold letters. "I just found out something awful. That Mum and Dad aren't actually my parents, which I guess, also means you aren't really my brother." She sniffed again. "Don't worry though. I'm pretty sure they were really your parents." She ran her hand over his name again. "I wonder if they ever wished you were the one still alive, considering you are actually their son."

"Don't be stupid." Erin jumped and shouted loudly when she heard her dad's voice from behind her.

"DAD!" She dusted herself off, "Don't do that!" Pete smiled at her despite the situation. He knelt next to her on the grass.

"Never think we wished that." He said seriously, she nodded gently.

"Dad. I'm sorry for running away." She said after a few minutes.

"I'm not going to say it's ok, because it's not. Your mother is going mad with worry." He noticed the grimace on her face when Addison was mentioned. "And I'll be having none of that. She is your mother. She may not have brought you into this world but she's done a damn good job of bringing you up in it."Erin avoided his gaze. "She loves you."

"I know. I love her too. Both of you." She looked back up at her father. "She knows I don't hate her right?"

"She knows." He said quietly. He pulled his daughter into a hug, who seemed quite happy to comply. They sat there for a while until she spoke again.

"Was he yours?" She asked whilst looking at the tombstone.

"Yes, but so are you."

"You know what I mean dad.

"You know what _I _mean Erin."

"I have absolutely no idea why mum has put up with you so long."

"Me neither." He chuckled.

* * *

Addison's head shot up from Naomi's lap as the door opened. She sighed in relief when she saw Pete and Erin walk through the door.

"Oh thank God." She whispered pulling the girl into a hug, whether she wanted one or not. She was even more relieved when she felt Erin hug her back. "Don't ever do that to me again." The two stayed like that, without realising that Pete had ushered everyone else out thanking them for their help, but saying that they needed some alone time as a family. When they did finally part Addison looked at her. "You dyed your hair!" She sounded partly mad, but mainly glad that the girl was there to scold. Pete looked at her over the newly dyed red-head as if to say this was not the time. Addison seemed to agree and they all moved to sit on the couch- Erin sat in between her parents. "You must have questions." Addison stated.

"Who are my real parents?"She asked quickly, not missing the fact her mum tensed at the word _real._

"Your birth mum was called Darcy; she was sixteen years old when she had you." Addison started. "Your Dad and I had a shift with a helpline called Safe Surrender and she called us. We picked you up and brought you to the practice. I called you Batgirl." Addison smiled as she thought of the memory.

"Batgirl?" Erin asked looking amused.

"Don't even get me started." Her father retorted.

"Excuse me?"Addison interrupted their little exchange. The both gave her a look that said sorry, which they always did. "She came back the next day to get you." Erin looked surprised.

"She came back for me?"

"Yeah. Then a week later I was called to St Ambrose where you had been abandoned again. Your Aunt Charlotte said Darcy had been apologetic but said she couldn't handle being a mum. We met your dad but he was happy with the adoption going through." Erin looked understandably sad; Addison put an arm around her.

"It took a long time for the adoption to be approved. After all, I was a single woman at the time. But we had a bond, which even the courts couldn't ignore. By the time it was approved you had already called me mama." Addison smiled at the memory. "You seemed to naturally assume that your father was your dad too, seeing as he wouldn't leave me alone at the time."

"Hey!"  
"You know its true Pete; don't even try to deny it." Erin watched the exchange between her parents and smiled. "I finally relented to your dad's almost stalkerish ways and we became a family."She smiled over Erin's head, which was now leaning on her. "Isn't that right dear?"

"I'm not sure I agree with your summing up of the beginning of our relationship, but pretty much yes."

"Why did you adopt me?" She asked quietly. Addison ran her fingers through her daughters hair, still confused as to why when she ran away she deemed it necessary to dye it.

"Because I had fallen in love with you, and I thought I couldn't have children of my own."

"But what about-"

"Toby was a surprise to say the least. I took about ten pregnancy tests." She smiled sadly, just like she did every time she thought of Toby. Her little miracle, taken far too soon. "You have to understand we loved you the same." Erin looked up at her disbelievingly. "Since the day I could first called you my daughter I thought of you as my daughter and nothing less. We never considered Toby to be better than you. Ever." Erin was seemingly convinced for now.

"Okay." She whispered. "I love you mummy." Addison smiled.

"I love you too honey."

* * *

Addison knocked on Erin's door a few hours later.

"Come in." She heard from the other side. She walked in and saw her daughter sitting up in bed reading her book. "Hey mum." She frowned as she seemed to finally notice the bandage on her mother's hand. "What did you do?"

"Oh. I cut my hand on the glass from your frame. Aunt Violet cleared the rest away a lot more successfully than my attempt." She sat on the edge of her bed. "So what's with the hair?" She asked running a hand through the now red hair, exactly the same as her own.

"I wanted to look like you." She looked at her book embarrassed, "I always have." Addison smiled at her.

"I'll let this one go. But no more crazy ideas ok? It suits you."

"Ok." She suddenly lent forward and hugged her mother, who was shocked but hugged her back just as tightly. "I'm sorry for what I said. I know you are my mother." Addison turned her head and kissed the top of Erin's.

"No need to apologise sweetie."

* * *

"Hey Toby." Erin stood in front of the stone again a month later. "I'm sorry about last time, I was mad. Of course you are my brother, I never thought anything different. Aunt Violet always says it's good to talk about feelings and I swear that is all that's been happening in the house lately." She chuckled "I just want someone to keep a thought to themselves."

The smile faded off her face. "I still haven't decided if I want to meet my birth mother, I'm not as sure I want to anymore. She didn't want me. I wish you were hear Tob'. I miss you."

"Erin." She turned when she heard her name called. She saw her parents standing away from her, because she asked for a moment alone. She noticed how her mother leaned up against her father; she had never been able to deal with coming here.

"I'm coming." She looked back at the stone. "I better go. Its barbeque at the Bennett's!" She kissed her fingers and placed them on top of the stone. Love you." She turned to her parents and smiled and walked quickly towards them. "So- how long do you reckon it will take Uncle Coop to pass out this year?" She smiled as she heard parents laugh at the memory and place their own bets on the matter.

When Erin found out that she had been adopted she thought her world would change, and whilst some things had it was mainly the same. Her mother was more overbearing than before because she was terrified of her leaving any minute. Her mother had nothing to worry about though, because she was Erin Carson Forbes Montgomery-Wilder and had two parents who loved her- despite cursing her with an absurd amount of names.

* * *

So what did you think?

If I did write more on this it would be Erin meeting Darcy I think.

Please review- they make me happy :)

Fifteen Minutes Old

xXx

P.S. There should be an update on "Headlights on Dark Roads" in th next couple of days.


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